The present invention relates to an oral cavity cleaner for driving a toothbrush and simultaneously injecting a water jet by means of a stream of pulsating high-pressure fluid to remove sordes and foreign matter from teeth for prevention of tooth decay and to massage the gums for effective, timesaving prevention and treatment of pyorrhes alveolaris.
Generally, there are two types of oral cavity cleaners, one of which are toothbrushes, and the other of which are devices for injecting through tips of nozzles high-pressure water discharged from pump devices. Toothbrushes are easy to handle and are effective for removing sordes, but are deficient in construction since it is difficult to reach gaps between the teeth, thereby leaving therein sordes and foreign matter. On the other hand, the devices for injecting high-pressure water are good for removing foreign matter such as food crumbs jammed in the gaps between the teeth and between the teeth and gum, and for promoting circulation of the blood in the gums by means of a pulsating jet, resulting in effective prevention and treatment of pyorrhes alveolaris. However, high-pressure water injecting devices are insufficient for removing sordes adhered to surfaces of the teeth.
The two devices of the prior art have both merits and demerits as aforesaid. It is essential, as seen in reports made at the meetings of the Oral Hygienic Society, that the two devices be used in combination to achieve satisfactory results in cleaning the oral cavity. However, it is not only time consuming but also troublesome to use the two devices in combination. When toothbrushes are manually operated, there are individual differences in the results achieved in cleaning the oral cavity and hands becomes tired. To obviate these disadvantages, automatic motor-operated toothbrushes are commercially available nowadays. This type of toothbrushes must be used in combination with high-pressure water injecting devices to achieve satisfactory results in cleaning the oral cavity, so that they do not contribute much to the saving of time and to the elimination of a troublesome operation in cleaning an oral cavity. Furthermore, the provision of such expensive articles as motor-operated toothbrushes and high-pressure water injecting devices makes an economic burden for average homes.
Toilet alcoves in households are narrow and the space for storing such articles is relatively small, so that one would experience inconvenience in using such articles. Proposals have hitherto been made to combine a high-pressure water injector and an electrically-operated toothbrush into a single device, and to combine a hydraulically-operated toothbrush with a high-pressure water injector into a single device. In these devices, it is necessary to provide a pick for a nozzle for injecting high-pressure water and a toothbrush separately and to interchangeably use them, to increase the effects they achieve in cleaning the oral cavity. It is not only time consuming but also troublesome to attach and detach these parts, so that the devices would be low in efficiency. This would result in the users only using one of the two parts and consequently the devices would be unable to attain the end of performing two functions.
Another important disadvantage would be that if the high-pressure water injector alone is used and the toothbrush is not used, the devices would be of no avail in preventing decay of the teeth because removal of sordes on the teeth could not be accomplished with sufficient effectiveness. In view of this disadvantage, devices which make it necessary to interchangeably use a toothbrush and a pick do not achieve the effects for which they are intended, because they impose an economic burden on the users and cause unnecessary trouble. Further, it has been found that most prospective users can be thoroughly familiarized with the way of using these devices. It would be apparent that this would raise the problem that the users of these devices might suffer from diseases of the teeth in spite of using them.